1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cooking pans, and particularly to a Dutch oven cooking vessel featuring a liner capable of fitting within the interior of the Dutch oven cooking vessel to provide an improved cooking environment and to simplify cooking with the Dutch oven cooking vessel, as well as the clean-up process.
2. Background
A Dutch oven is a outdoor cooking vessel that can be used in the cooking of many kinds of foods, from roasts to desserts. Many of the food products that are cooked in a Dutch offer a unique and great tasting alternative to conventional cooking. However, cooking with Dutch ovens requires a great deal of patience and effort as the preparation and cleanup involved can be extremely unpleasant.
A Dutch oven is typically a large and heavy cast iron vessel capable of enduring harsh environmental conditions, such as those experienced when camping. A Dutch oven is usually placed directly adjacent and in contact with a heat source for cooking, such as atop coals from a fire or charcoal briquettes or having such placed upon the lid of the Dutch oven for more even temperature control. However, it is very difficult to achieve and regulate uniform temperature control due to the nature of the heat source. During the cooking process, the outer surfaces of the Dutch oven in contact with the heat source become extremely hot. As heat dissipates through from the outside to the inside of the Dutch oven, the food closest to the inner surfaces often burns and becomes caked to the inside surfaces of the Dutch oven. Food that has been burnt is very difficult to scrape off, thus requiring a great deal of effort to clean. In addition, since it is rather difficult to achieve and to regulate the cooking temperature in the interior of the Dutch oven, and since the food is not protected from the hot inner sides, the burning of food is more common than not.
To add to the difficulty, Dutch ovens are typically used in a camping setting where modern conveniences are few, if available at all. Thus, those tasks, such as cleaning, that are often simplified by modem technology, require a more traditional and old fashioned approach, which in the case of cleaning a Dutch oven, is scrubbing and cleaning by hand food that is charred and caked to a cast iron surface. When out camping it is always more difficult to accomplish what would otherwise be simple tasks.
Until now, cooking with and cleaning Dutch ovens has largely been according to that described above and has been rather time consuming, messy, and unpleasant because of these shortfalls, notwithstanding the novelty of and fun that can be achieved cooking with a Dutch oven. In light of this, the present invention seeks to remedy the many unpleasantries often experienced with cooking with a Dutch oven.
Therefore, it is an object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a Dutch oven liner capable of separating the food from the inside surfaces of the Dutch oven.
It is another object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a Dutch oven liner fittable within a Dutch oven that allows for the preparation of foods in various ways.
It is another object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a Dutch oven liner that simplifies the cooking and cleaning processes associated with cooking with a Dutch oven.
It is a further object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a Dutch oven liner that is disposable, light weight, and durable.
To achieve the foregoing objects, and in accordance with the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention features a Dutch oven liner comprising a substantially upright wall forming a closed perimeter, wherein the upright wall has an upper and lower portion, and an inner and outer surface; and a bottom portion formed to the lower portion to create a cooking area capable of holding and allowing food to be cooked therein. The Dutch oven liner is similar in dimension to and capable of removably fitting within an interior portion of a Dutch oven cooking vessel, thereby simplifying the cooking and cleaning process associated with cooking with the Dutch oven cooking vessel. In a preferred embodiment, the Dutch oven liner comprises an aluminum makeup, and is both collapsible and disposable.
The Dutch oven liner further comprises means for handling and carrying said Dutch oven liner so that the liner may be easily removed after the expiration of the cooking time. The handles allow the user to grasp the liner, separate from the Dutch oven cooking vessel, and remove the liner (and the food therein) without having to move the Dutch oven cooking vessel. In a preferred embodiment, means for handling and carrying comprises at least one handle integrally formed with or coupled to said upper portion of said Dutch oven liner, wherein the handle(s) is/are flexible and able to fold down out of the way during cooking.
The present invention further features a Dutch oven cooking system comprising a Dutch oven cooking vessel having an interior therein; a lid that is fittable with the Dutch oven cooking vessel; and a Dutch oven liner similar in size and dimension to the interior portion of the Dutch oven cooking vessel, wherein the Dutch oven liner is capable of removably fitting within the interior of the Dutch oven cooking vessel and allowing the replacement of the lid onto the Dutch oven cooking vessel to provide an improved cooking environment. The Dutch oven liner is intended to simplify and increases the efficiency of cooking with and cleaning the Dutch oven cooking vessel as food contained within the Dutch oven liner is sufficiently cooked due to a heat transferring relationship between the Dutch oven liner and the Dutch oven cooking vessel, and wherein the Dutch oven liner provides for quick and efficient cleaning of the Dutch oven by simply removing the Dutch oven liner.
Cooking with the Dutch oven liner of the present invention provides many advantages, including providing safer, cleaner, and more efficient cooking when doing so with a Dutch oven cooking vessel. The liner is easily inserted into the interior portion of the Dutch oven cooking vessel prior to cooking and then allows the user to remove the liner once cooking is completed without having to move the actual Dutch oven vessel. Cleanup is greatly simplified as the liners are disposable, allowing the user to simply discard the liner when finished leaving the interior of the Dutch oven cooking vessel free from food product. In addition, no food comes in contact with the actual vessel, thus there is no cleanup of any surface foods within the Dutch oven vessel.